The Office of the Court
Administrator also directed Alfonso, throughExecutive Judge Ligaya, to submit his daily time record (DTR) from June
1998 to January 1999, together with his explanation for his failure to submit
said DTRs. Alfonso complied with the order on March 19, 1999.He explained that he had already prepared
his DTRs for said period, but he inadvertently failed to file them.He also stated that he underwent medical
treatment for peptic ulcer from November to December 1998.It was only in January 1999 that he realized
that his DTRs have not been submitted.

However, notwithstanding the
Directive of Executive Judge Ligaya and Alfonso's explanation, the latter still
failed to return to work.

On June 30, 1999, the new
Executive Judge of Olongapo City, Judge Reynaldo M. Laigo, submitted his First
Indorsement to Court Administrator Alfredo L. Benipayo recommending that the
position of Alfonso be declared vacant, considering his long unexplained
absence without official leave amounting to abandonment of duty.

On July 27, 1999, the Office of
the Court Administrator required Alfonso to explain in writing why he should
not be dealt with administratively for his continuous absence since February 1,
1999 without any approved application for leave of absence.It also ordered the witholding ofhis salaries.

On February 7, 2000, Judge Ligaya
wrote to the Office of the Court Administrator informing them that Alfonso has
been reporting for work regularly since December 1999 and that his prolonged
absence was due to his peptic ulcer.She also stated that Alfonso has acknowledged his fault and apologized
for being absent without notice to the office.She likewise stated that Alfonso pleaded that he be given another chance
and promised that the offense will not be repeated.Judge Ligaya forwarded the approved leave of absence of Alfonso
from February 1 to November 30, 1999 and the medical certificate issued by Dr.
Eduardo G. Arevalo showing that Alfonso was treated for peptic ulcer from
February 1999 to November 1999.

In its Memorandum dated August 14,
2000, the Office of the Court Administrator observed:

Section 63, Rule XVI of the Omnibus Rules on Leave, as amended,
expressly provides that "(A)n official or employee who is continuously
absent without approved leave for at least thirty (30) days shall be considered
on absence without official leave (AWOL) and shall be separated from the
service or dropped from the rules (sic) without prior notice."

Before the Supreme Court could however drop Mr. Alfonso from the
service, he submitted his applications for leave to Judge Ligaya, the Presiding
Judge of Branch 1 where he has been detailed prior to his absence, together
with his explanation letter and DTRs from February to December 1999.Judge Ligaya approved such application for
leave and DTRs.She likewise accepted
Mr. Alfonso's explanation and favorably indorsed said letter together with Mr.
Alfonso's approved application for leave to the Supreme Court.

Judge Ligaya's acceptance and favorable indorsement of Mr.
Alfonso's application for leave, DTRs and explanation has converted Mr.
Alfonso's unauthorized absences (AWOL) to one that is authorized.When he was allowed to return to work on
December 3, 1999, Judge Ligaya has likewise effectively lifted Mr. Alfonso's
status of being on AWOL.This has
rendered the request to drop him from the service as moot and academic.There is therefore no longer any reason to
drop Mr. Alfonso from the service.

Additionally, Mr. Alfonso's submission of his leave application
immediately upon his return to work substantially complies with the provision
of Section 53, Omnibus Rules on Leave, which provides that "(A)ll
applications for sick leave of absence for one full day or more shall be made on
the prescribed form and shall be filed immediately upon the employee's
return from such leave.Notice
of absence should however be sent to immediate supervisor and/or agency
head.Application for sick leave in
excess of five (5) successive days shall be accompanied by a proper medical
certificate."What Mr. Alfonso
failed to do is to inform the lower court that he was sick with ulcer and was
going to be absent.He only informed
the Court of his illness in his explanation letter dated March 19, 1999.

Although Mr. Alfonso failed to file his application for sick leave
together with his explanation letter, he did attempt to do so sometime in July
1999.The OCC however refused to
receive his application for leave because he was then already declared
AWOL.This act of attempting to file
his application for leave as well as his immediate return to work as soon as
cleared by his physician shows that he is still very much interested in his
work.It just so happened that he could
not sooner return to work by reason of his illness as certified to by his
physician.

Judge Ligaya asserts that Mr. Alfonso deserves and should be given
another chance.This recommendation is
in direct conflict with Executive Judge Laigo's recommendation.However, since Mr. Alfonso is detailed in
the sala of Judge Ligaya who has direct supervision over the former, we believe
that Judge Ligaya is in a better position to assess whether or not Mr. Alfonso
has indeed reformed and is worth being given another chance.

Moreover, as previously mentioned, Judge Ligaya recently reported
to us that Mr. Alfonso has been regularly reporting for work and diligently
performing his duties since December 1999.This is supported by his bundy cards and DTRs from December 1999 to July
2000 (Annexes "Q" to "W".)

Nevertheless, our records show that Mr. Alfonso has in the past
committed the same violation.In a
"Directive" dated September 23, 1997, Mr. Alex Rimando has directed
him to explain his unauthorized absence on September 23, 1997.(Annex "X")He also received another letter dated June
23, 1998, from Mr. Rimando for his alleged absences without official leave
since May 25, 1998 (Annex "Y")[His records show that he was absent beginning May 29, 1998 up to June
24, 1998.](Annex "Z")Consequently, he should be held responsible
and disciplined for his irresponsible act of absenting himself without the
approved leave.

Thus, the Office of the Court
Administrator recommended that the AWOL status of Mr. Alfonso be lifted for
humanitarian considerations.However,
to serve as a lesson to Alfonso, it likewise recommended that he be suspended
for six (6) months and one (1) day without pay with stern warning that a
similar future violation will be strictly dealt with.

We adopt the recommendation of the
Office of the Court Administrator.Alfonso's previous record shows that he had a habit of absenting from
work without approved leave of absence.This is inimical to public service and deserves to be meted a
disciplinary sanction.Nonetheless, we
also give weight to the letter of Judge Ligaya, Alfonso's immediate superior,
that he has reformed and has been regularly reporting for work since December
1999 and deserves to be given another chance.Furthermore, we find that Alfonso's absences were due to serious illness
which rendered him unable to report for work and perform his duties
effectively.Although it does not
justify Alfonso's omission, it nonetheless serves to mitigate his offense.Hence, under the circumstances, we find the
recommendation of the Office of the Court Administrator to be just.

IN VIEW WHEREOF, the AWOL status of Edelito I. Alfonso is hereby
LIFTED.He is, however, SUSPENDED for
six (6) months and one (1) day without pay with STERN WARNING that a similar
future violation will be strictly dealt with.